Spotlight & Giveaway: Fighting for What’s His by Laura Kaye

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Laura Kaye to HJ!

Hi Laura and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Fighting for What’s His!

 
Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be here at Harlequin Junkie again to celebrate the release of my new Fighting for What’s His!
 

Tell us about the book with this fun little challenge using the title of the book:

Fighting for What’s His is a sexy, emotional, and funny standalone romance in my new wounded Warrior Fight Club series. It’s about a woman fresh out of school and new to DC who moves in with her brother’s best friend temporarily while she starts a new job as a photojournalist and looks for her own place. Shayna’s always had a crush on Billy, who’s six years older and works as a private investigator, but this is the first time she’s really had a chance to get to know him, and they become fast friends–and then more. But they both have secrets they don’ t want anyone to know, and getting close might just be more than either can handle.

What’s your favorite line(s) from the book?:

Oh, there are so many, but maybe:

“I want you to touch me. Just maybe save your nails for my ass.”
(Billy has a lot of burn scars from an explosion when he was in the military, and this is a funny, sexy moment from their first time together)

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Billy Curtis is an Army Ranger vet who works as a private investigator, and who has burn scars over a large part of the right side of his body from an explosion that got him medically discharged from the military. He’s rocking some major survivors’ guilt, because many on his team died in that explosion, and worries that he’s drifting through life and therefore not honoring the sacrifice of those who lost theirs. He’s attracted to Shayna because she so readily accepts Billy’s wounds, his veteran friends from the Warrior Fight Club, and because she seems to really get what he’s going through as a veteran.

Shayna Curtis is starting a new job as a photojournalist in DC, and while she’s looking for a place of her own, her brother has arranged for her to stay with his Army buddy, Billy Parrish–on whom she’s had a crush for years. She’s hoping DC will give her the opportunity for a fresh start, because she blames herself for a family tragedy that occurred two years before. Shayna’s attracted to Billy in part because she always has been, but also because he’s protective of her, free with compliments, and he makes her feel good about herself.

When you sat down to start this book, what was the biggest challenge you faced? What were you most excited about?

On this one, my biggest challenge was just how slow the book was coming for me. Some books just spill out of you and on some, you first for every single word.

The thing that I was most excited about was that Fighting for What’s His is a roommates-to-lovers story, and I adore writing forced proximity!

What, in your mind, makes this book stand out?

I think this series stands out in the way it combines elements of sports romance and military romance, and because it’s based on a real-life organization that helps veterans transition to civilian life through MMA training.

I think Fighting for What’s His stands out because it manages to both be fiercely emotional and laugh-out-loud funny, in addition to being HOT, of course!

The First Kiss…

Shayna put her hands on his chest.

His eyes closed as if the gesture almost pained him. “Shayna.”

She came a half step closer, and it was enough to learn that he was rock hard against her belly. A whimper spilled from her lips as she pushed up onto tiptoes, her hands smoothing up toward his shoulders.

And then his eyes were open and trained on hers, a war roiling in their dark depths.

Through his shirt, she felt the edge of a bandage under her palm. She pulled back her hand, not wanting to hurt him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

The next thing Shayna knew, Billy grasped and pushed her against the wall behind the door. He kissed her full on the mouth. It only took her brain the beat of one second to realize that he’d given her exactly what she wanted and to kiss him back.

And dear God, the way this man kissed. Like he’d been starving for it. His hands were holding her face and his body was pinning her to the wall and his tongue was tasting her mouth like he was desperate for her.

“You can touch me, damnit,” he gritted out around the edge of a kiss. She buried her fingers in his hair, and he groaned.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

Probably this one, because it’s so full of chemistry, humor, and heat:

“Wait.” Their friend held out her hands and surveyed the lot of them. “I need this story from the beginning.”

Which kicked off twenty minutes of Shayna and Billy fighting to tell their versions of the story—sans all mention of her getting naked at the end of it, thank God—while everyone laughed and taunted Billy and high-fived Shayna.

Dani and Tara were totally on her side all the way, and that had Billy refusing to share the piece of cheesecake that he’d agreed to split with Shayna when they ordered it.

She tried to maneuver her fork around his arm, but he blocked her, making her laugh even as she pleaded for a bite. “Come on. It’s not my fault that all your friends think it’s funny that I broke into your house.”

He smirked at her. “That isn’t earning you any cheesecake.”

“It’s my cheesecake, too,” she said, trying again.

He easily blocked her next attack. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”

“Quit being a dickweasal,” she said, laughing as she tried again.

He grinned and held the dessert plate further away. “Dickweasal, am I?”

“Oh, do you prefer jizzmuffin?”

Mo’s eyebrows went way up. “Listen to the genius coming out of this girl’s mouth.” Everyone laughed. “Is this also courtesy of your brother?”

“Brothers,” Shayna said, not failing to claim Dylan, too. For once. “And yes. I had to be able to insult them back, didn’t I?”

Grinning, Mo grabbed the plate from Billy’s hand when he wasn’t looking.

“Hey!” Billy said, a comically outraged expression on his sexy face.

“Creativity like that takes fuel, brother, that’s all I’m saying.” He handed the plate around Billy to Shayna.

About two-thirds of the cake was left, and Shayna promptly licked the whole top of it. “I licked it.
It’s mine now. Take that, assclown.”

The whole table howled in laughter. Mo was actually crying.

And she thought Billy’s expression had been comical before. His jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

She slid a big forkful of the sweet, creamy deliciousness into her mouth. “Oh, believe it,” she said around the bite.

As he watched her, his gaze shifted. From outraged to playful to challenging. And she didn’t think she was imagining more than a little heat in those dark eyes, either. “You think I’m put off by a pretty woman’s tongue, Shayna Curtis?”

“Damn,” Sean said. “It’s getting a little X-rated up in here.”

“Check, please,” Noah called out, making everyone laugh again.

Meanwhile, Shayna nearly swallowed said tongue as she prayed to God that the heat lashing through her body didn’t climb up her face. Because Billy was staring at her with an arched brow and a smug, expectant look in his eye. “No curses for me now?”

“So, so many,” she managed, smiling despite herself and her arousal and the way her belly was flipping. Because there was no way to read what was happening just then but as flirtation. She put the plate between them. “Help yourself if you really want.” She said the words looking him straight in the eyes, silently inviting him to interpret them however he wished.

Right in that moment, she was entirely open to him helping himself to her, too.

He took a big bite and made a point of closing his eyes and mmming.

The sound of Billy’s moan seemed connected to something primal in Shayna. Because she was suddenly wet. Lordy.

If your hero had a sexy-times play list, what song(s) would have to be on it?

I’m terrible at song choices! LOL

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

A theme in this book is about the experiences people have had and the secrets they hide, so quote from the book is one of the things I hope people take away from it:

Shayna realized that she never would’ve guessed half the amazing things that he’d seen and done just by looking at who he was now. And wasn’t that true of everyone? Unless you were the one to say hello or extend the invitation or share a piece of yourself first, you might never know what another person experienced or had to offer.

What are you currently working on? What are your up-coming releases?

I’m writing the third book in the Warrior Fight Club series, an enemies-to-lovers story called Fighting the Fire, releasing November 13!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One commenter will win a signed copy of Fighting for What’s His, open to international!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Both Shayna and Billy have a hobby or activity that they do when they’re stressed out, feeling down, or just need a distraction – what’s yours?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Excerpt from Fighting for What’s His:

Shayna waddled in through the front door, arms loaded down with bags from Target and looking like a pack mule.

Billy stood at the kitchen counter, head tilted back, drinking a glass of water. Shirtless.

Shayna did a double take that nearly had her dropping everything on the floor.

Her eyes couldn’t decide where to focus first. On the obviously hard muscles of his shoulders and pecs? On the actual ridges of muscles on his abdomen? On the way his gym shorts hung low enough on his hips that they hinted at the muscled indentations that she’d find beneath? If she ever looked. Which she totally would, except she didn’t have an invitation to go down under…

He arched a brow. She was so busted.

“Um, hey,” she managed, brazening it out even as her face filled with heat. “Sleepyhead.”

“Slept worth shit until it was time to get up, of course. Then all I wanted to do was go back to sleep.” He watched as she awkwardly settled all the bags on the counter, then extricated her wrists from the looped handles. “Need help?”

“Um,” she said again, because this close, she noticed two other things.

First, that he was a little sweaty, and the sheen of it over all those muscles was sexy as hell. It made her want to shower with him. Or lick him. Or both, but maybe not in that order.

And second, she saw for the first time just how extensive his scarring was. Save for the area around the cut on his shoulder—which looked bigger today—most of the scarring wasn’t a markedly different color, but it was smoother and shinier in some places and raised in others, compared to the skin that hadn’t been burned. And it covered the whole right side of his ribs and part of his back, from the waist of his shorts to his arm pit.

“I kinda do need help…in the form of muscles…which you seem to have a lot of.”

Now her face was on absolute fire, but she didn’t care, because she wanted him to know that her staring was about those hot-as-fuck muscles, not the scars.

“Is that right?” he said, eyebrow arched.

Shayna rolled her eyes. “Do you need confirmation of this fact?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Doesn’t suck hearing that a pretty girl noticed, though.”

Pretty girl! That internal squee was her first—ridiculous—reaction. Clearly, his muscles made her a little stupid.

“Woman,” she said, arching a brow of her own.

A slow smile crept up his handsome face. “Okay, woman. What is it you need muscle for?”

She led him outside to her car, then popped the hatch. “Meet my new desk and chair,” she said, pointing to the boxes that filled the back. Of course the desk needed to be assembled.

He frowned. “You could’ve used mine.”

Shayna shrugged. “I didn’t want to assume. Besides, I’m messy and you’re not, so I didn’t want my stuff to drive you crazy.”

He peered down at her like he was trying to figure her out, and something about the look made her belly go on a loop-the-loop. “I appreciate that, but I still would’ve made room for you.”

Before she could think of how to respond, he tugged the heavy box out of her trunk. His biceps bulged under the strain of the desk’s weight.

She managed the box containing her new chair and followed Billy back inside.

As they dropped the furniture in her bedroom, he said, “Gimme your keys. I’m going to give you my parking spot out back while you’re here. That way you don’t have to circle looking for a space or end up having to walk a couple blocks at night.”

“That’s really sweet, Billy, but I don’t want to put you out—” Her gaze latched onto his shoulder, where a thin stream of blood oozed down his back from his cut.

He turned, saw where she was looking, and frowned. “I’m fine, Shayna.”

Could he not feel the blood? “No, it’s not that, Billy. You’re bleeding.”

His head whipped to the side, and he strained to see over his shoulder, but couldn’t. He went into her bathroom and hit the lights. “Aw, shit.”

“I got the bandages you asked for. I’ll grab them,” she said.

Without looking at her, he nodded once. She heard the frustrated breath he released as she left the room. It only took her a moment of sorting through the bag to find what she was looking for—and to stumble upon the ice cream which she threw in the freezer.

When she came back up, he was waiting at the top of the steps. “I got it from here, thanks.”

“I can help—”

“I’ve got it,” he said again, not quite meeting her gaze.

“You helped me, so why can’t I help—”

“Shayna.”

“Billy.” She understood how guys like Billy and her brother thought. She’d been around enough of them to know they hated needing help. But that didn’t mean they didn’t actually need it. “You won’t be able to reach. Let me help.”

He let out a harsh breath, then turned away. “Fine.” He disappeared into his bedroom at the back of the hallway.

Shayna followed. His room was all dark blues and browns, with a big queen-sized bed dominating the space. And it was as neat as the rest of the house, with not even an errant sock on the floor. She followed the rectangle of light spilling from the master bathroom and found him gathering supplies from the medicine cabinet.

For a moment, she just stood in the doorway, because she could feel the anger rolling off of him. “I’m sorry that carrying my stupid desk made your shoulder worse.”

He slanted her a look, and it was clear that he was attempting to beat back his temper. “It didn’t, so don’t worry.”

“I’m kinda predisposed to think things are my fault, so it can’t be helped.”

He frowned, and this time all the frustration bled from his expression. “Why do you say that?”
Because my idiocy and stubbornness killed my brother.

That was what she thought, but what she said was, “I don’t know. Old habit.”

Billy shook his head. “Well, this isn’t your fault, Shayna. And I’d be willing to bet that whatever else you’re worrying about isn’t either.” He closed the toilet lid and sat heavily, and Shayna was glad that he looked away, because his words had unleashed a sting at the backs of her eyes. “I hate that I need help with this, not that you’re the one helping.”

There went her belly again. “Just pretend I’m Ryan,” she said in a quiet voice.

He smirked up at her. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you probably wouldn’t care if a buddy was patching you up, right?”

He shrugged with one big shoulder. “Anyone ever told you that you can be too damn perceptive?”

“I’m a photographer, after all. It’s literally my job to see things.”

“Mine, too,” he said, tossing another glance over his shoulder, this one appreciative.

Their gazes collided. Held. Made Shayna’s heart beat harder.

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Resisting her only makes him want her more…

Private investigator Billy Parrish is good at three things—fighting, investigating, and sex. MMA training with the other vets in the Warrior Fight Club keeps his war-borne demons at bay—mostly, and one night stands ensure no one gets too close. But then his best friend from the Army Rangers calls in a favor.

Shayna Curtis is new to town, fresh out of grad school, and full of hope for the future. With a new job starting in a month, she’s grateful when her brother arranges a place for her to stay while she apartment hunts. But she never expected her roommate to be so brooding. Or so sexy.

Billy can’t wait for Shay to leave—because the longer she’s there, the more he wants her in his bed. To stay. He can’t have her—that much he knows. But when fight club stops taking off the edge, Billy lets down his guard…and starts fighting for what’s his.
Book Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Laura Kaye is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty books in contemporary romance and romantic suspense and has sold more than one million books in the U.S. alone. Laura grew up amid family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. A former college history professor, Laura also writes bestselling historical women’s fiction as Laura Kamoie. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
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